Lithuania’s Defense Minister Arvidas Anusauskas announced on Saturday that he had resigned at the request of Prime Minister Ingrid Šimonite just two months before presidential elections and seven months before parliamentary elections, a request that caught him off guard. against the backdrop of tensions with neighboring Russia, EFE reports, respectively Agerpres.

Anousauskas himself explained on Saturday that the day before he had received a “somewhat unexpected” offer from Simonite, namely that he would resign as a minister in favor of another politician from next week and take the position of chairman of a commission in the Sejm (parliament), which I originally rejected

After talking with the head of the executive power, Anusauskas decided against the background of “this difficult moment for the activities of the Ministry of National Defense and the strengthening of the army, as well as in the context when the threats are not decreasing”, to write his resignation in order to maintain the political support of the head of the government.

For his part, Simonite wrote on his Facebook that the minister’s resignation “is not related to any sudden changes in the state of national security of Lithuania, any changes in threats or any negative news about the activities of the ministry.”

“I was worried about the hope that Lithuania would feel safe until the end of the mandate and that the government would do even more and faster than it has done so far,” she explained.

“A lot has been done, but the remaining nine months mean very little, and this session of the Seimas is very important for making decisions that require maximum participation,” she added, referring to the October 13 legislative elections in Lithuania.

In addition, the country will hold presidential elections on May 12, in which the current head of state Gitanas Nauseda, who also leads the poll with 28.5% of voters, the highest percentage since October 2022, will run again.

Nauseda is followed by lawyer and right-wing politician Ignas Wegele, who received 13.4% of the vote, and Christian Democrat Simonite, an economist and prime minister from 2020.